Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Attention to Detail

Rose has been showing an increased ability to remember things after they leave her line of sight. In the past when her attention has gotten hyper-focused on something in the not-for-Rose category, I simply placed the item out of view and distracted her with a cool for-Rose toy. Now, when the not-for-Rose item is placed out of view, it results in a stronger obsession with the item and lots of pointing up, head nodding, and "uh?" repetitions. Even when the item is completely out of view. "Uh?" "Yes, that's mom's coffee." "Uh?" "Mom's coffee. It's hot" "Uh?" "Mom's coffee. Not for Rose." Ten minutes later, engrossed in the task of putting toys into a bag, Rose will suddenly stop, point up, nod her head and "Uh?" "Yes, Mom's coffee is still up there."

I tried to curb her fascination with coffee this weekend by letting her taste a drop off my finger. I have vivid memories from my childhood of trying to like the taste of my mom's coffee. I knew she liked it, she drank it every day. And I thought it would make sense for me to like it, or at least understand the possibility of liking it. But no matter how many times I tasted the murky brown liquid in her mug, it continued to be unbearable for years. This weekend,Idipped my finger into my own mug of black coffee and let Rose take a taste. Instead of the expected ppppthhhht, she leaned forward for more. Really, Rose? You won't drink baby formula so I can wean you off breast milk, but black coffee is just fine?

Rose's desire and aptitude for exploration also seems to be growing lately, which isn't surprising given her move to the Wobbs room where she's surrounded by teetering pre-toddlers who are constantly on the move and into everything. I thought she was a busy girl before, but she reached a new level this weekend. Some of her exciting discoveries include:

The girl in the mirror is actually me.

The toilet doesn't get tired of flushing.﻿

Opening and closing doors is easy, socks are still slightly entertaining and, whoa, there's a new bag in the hallway...

Rose's exploration is taking place is in the crib, too. Gone are the days of putting her to sleep on her back and walking away, to find her in the exact same position hours later upon waking. Now she prefers to sleep on her stomach, but only after crawling around the crib and bear hugging her sheep a few times. Here's how Trevor found her sleeping the other night when he went in to check on her.

When she wakes up, she now heads straight for the foot of the crib, pulls up to standing and squawks at the door until one of us comes to find her. ﻿

Rose's sense of humor is also on the rise or at least her variety of laughs. She loves to laugh at her dad, and finds him completely hilarious. Some times she throws her head back with a big open mouth smile, other times she squints her eyes in a seemingly flirty smirk, and some times she just cheeses like this..heehee...